“The gold standard of accompanying.” New York Times

“Martin Katz must surely be considered the dean of collaborative pianists,” said the Los Angeles Times. As one of the world’s busiest collaborators, he has been in constant demand by the world’s most celebrated vocal soloists for four decades. In addition to Mr. Blumberg, he has appeared and recorded regularly with Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Samuel Ramey, Karita Mattila, Piotr Beczala, Jose Carreras, Cecilia Bartoli, Kiri Te Kanawa, Soile Isokoski, Kathleen Battle, and Lawrence Brownlee, just to name a few. Season after season, the world’s musical capitals figure prominently in his schedule.

Mr. Katz is a native of Los Angeles, where he began piano studies at the age of five. He attended the University of Southern California and studied the field of accompanying with its pioneer teacher, Gwendolyn Koldofsky. While yet a student, he was given the unique opportunity of accompanying the master classes and lessons of such luminaries as Lotte Lehmann, Jascha Heifetz, Pierre Bernac, and Gregor Piatigorsky.

In more recent years, conducting has also played a role in Mr. Katz’s career. He has partnered several of his soloists on the podium for orchestras of the B.B.C., Houston, Washington, D.C., Tokyo, New Haven and Miami He has conducted staged productions of more than twenty operas for both the Merola Program, the Pacific Music Festival and the University Opera Theatre in Ann Arbor.

Finally, the professional profile of Martin Katz is completed with his commitment to teaching. For three decades, the University of Michigan has been his home, where he has been chair for the School of Music’s program in collaborative piano. He has been a pivotal figure in the training of countless young artists, both singers and pianists, who are working all over the world. In addition to his work there, he is a regular guest at innumerable music schools and institutes throughout North America, Canada and Europe.

Mr. Katz is the author of a comprehensive guide to accompanying, “The Complete Collaborator,” published by Oxford University Press, which is widely regarded as the seminal textbook on this specialized subject.